Neo's Leash
by David Rose
Summary: After the train incident was labeled a success by Cinder, Neo was given something very precious to her as a reward. After a run in with Team RWBY, Yang takes Neo's reward and in doing so reveals the lengths Neo is willing to go to retrieve something she needs.
1. Numb

I was really expecting her to be mad. We had to launch the train way ahead of schedule and all the effects of the train were nullified by a bunch of Huntresses and the warship now hovering above the city. But, Cinder was happy with me, for some reason. I didn't know much about her master plan, I just protected Roman and followed any orders she gave to me. I got that White Fang leader out of the train but that was about all I could do.

Maybe Cinder just didn't want me around incase the masked woman found me again. In any case I was going to enjoy my bonus and if she found me, at least I would die free. This should last me for about a month anyways.

Vale was peaceful again. The people walked the streets without the fear of Grimm or White Fang attacking them. This was mostly due to the robots stationed at every street corner. This made me feel a little less guilty about letting Roman get captured. With all these robots, scanning faces, Roman wouldn't last a day on these streets. I was fortunate enough not to have gained much notoriety. Other than that team of Huntresses, I haven't engaged the authorities and no one else knew my face.

My scroll beeped. The preset alarm had gone off. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the bag of pills Cinder had given me.

I should find a vendor and buy a drink or something. These blue pills were actually quite large. I started my search and found a vending machine set up in preparation for the Vital festival. I bought a drink and turned to leave, planning on taking the pill as I walked. I stopped dead in my tracks.

Standing a few feet away and looking right at me was ... was bl-cat ... I don't know, the black themed Faunus. I panicked on instinct before I remembered that none of them were fast enough to do anything to me. I smirked at her and got ready to flash away before I remembered, aren't there four of them?

Something hit me from behind as the scenery changed in front of me. My pills and my drink flew out of my hands as I wielded my parasol. The drink fizzled as it hit the ground. I put my hands out onto the rapidly approaching ground and pushed, performing a handstand flip. My head whipped around to see the blond from the train having traveled with me onto a rooftop in Vale.

"You are going to stay here and fight me. No running away this time." the blond demanded. How oblivious she was to how close she came to her end last time. Just a few more seconds alone with her and the legacy of her life would have been an extra two months on my vacation, awarded by Cinder.

A burst of bullets raced towards me out of nowhere and I shielded myself with my parasol just in time to stop the last few bullets. The red one sped forward off of another roof top at incredible speed to stop behind the blond. It was a good thing she missed the first couple of shots or I would have been a goner. Okay, maybe I should just leave.

Suddenly, what looked like a grapple with a black ribbon was thrown onto the roof. The black themed girl soon pulled herself up onto the roof with it. Yep, definitely time to leave.

I searched for my bag of payment and saw that it was on the ground between me and the girls. Without another seconds delay the girls charged forward and I teleported. It took them a few seconds for them to realize that I teleported past them and was retrieving my property.

The blond loosed a round from her gauntlets at me but I blocked it with my parasol. Apparently she was smarter than she looks as she charged forward and didn't try to hit me but instead grabbed my pills.

I teleported past her and hooked her neck with the curved handle of my parasol, pulling her to the ground. I didn't have time to grab my bag before the other two opened fire. I shielded myself with my parasol and was planning my next move when I heard something on the street level.

"Disturbance detected. Investigating area." a robotic voice called out. I couldn't let those robots see my face. I looked down at the blond who was now recovering with her hand still tightly grasped on the bag. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a robotic hand grab onto the top of the building and then I was gone.

I spied on the team from a nearby alley as the Schnee heiress made her way to the roof. They just made a big mistake. I needed that bag and by taking it they just awarded themselves a personalized haunting until I get it back.

I panicked for a moment as I couldn't feel the weight of my parasol anywhere on my body. I looked around on the ground for it before I realized that it was in my hand. I gripped it tighter and stared at my hand as I did so. I couldn't feel it's weight, I couldn't feel my fingers tighten around it. I really needed that bag back. Soon.


	2. Shaking

They all stayed surrounded by robots for several hours. They were escorted to the police station, back to their school, and finally left alone after a trip to the headmasters office. Within a few hours of watching them I had found out their dorm room would be the best place to ambush them.

I made a quick trip back to Cinder to see if she would be willing to give me anymore pills. As I expected, she was not forthcoming and assumed that I was trying to trick her. I considered the pro's and con's from stealing pills from Cinder or stealing them back from blondy. Taking on the blonde's whole team may be harder but if I stole from Cinder she might stop having the pills manufactured and that would be bad.

I shivered as I waited against a wall and couldn't feel it. Going numb has it's advantages in battle but I was yearning to feel the coarseness of the brick. I also felt perpetually cold. I tried warming up but I continued feeling chilled even when I started sweating.

Despite all of this discomfort I waited. I remembered what Cinder taught me about my condition. I had about three days before the damage became permanent so there was no real rush for the time being.

Night started to fall just as my hands started to shake. Dam. I wanted to get this done before the other symptoms started showing up. I clenched my fist, trying to stop the shaking. The shaking subsided slowly. It was 11:30 so they should be in bed and asleep by now. Of course they are, they go to school and attend classes early.

I transported into their room to find my assumption correct. All four of them were sound asleep and the blond was snoring loudly. I really hate her. I wasn't going to risk searching through their drawers and personal effects, only to have one of them wake up and surprise me.

Eeny. Meeny. Miny. Moe. I made my choice and prepared a little drawing describing the drop off point and the ransom. I left the drawing on top of the blonds snoring mouth and grabbed the red girl's leg. The next moment I was on the roof of the building with a groggy and confused girl in her pajamas. She didn't have much time for clarity before I placed a rag soaked in a special liquid over her mouth. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp on the ground.

I grabbed her by the scruff of her clothing and dragged her over to the edge of the building. As I did so I realized that I couldn't feel that I had her clothes in hand. I couldn't trust myself to hold her over the edge and so I lifted her whole body onto the railing and readied my parasol to push her off.

I could hear the sounds of frantic running coming from the stairwell and seconds later the blonde and the raven haired Faunus burst through the door. The advanced further so I gave the red girl a little nudge. They stopped moving instantly. The blond was just staring daggers while the black haired girl had a look of panic on her face.

"Why isn't she moving!" the blond yelled.

I threw the rag over to them and the black haired girl took a whiff of it. The black haired girl took over the negotiations from there.

"Everybody just calm down. We want to give you what you asked for so just relax." she said. I could tell she was stalling, the white one hadn't come with them to the roof. I gave the red one another little nudge to let them know I meant business.

"Alright. Alright. Just calm down. We can't give you your pills." she said. I thought they would value this girls life more than to try to deny me her ransom. My hands started to shake again, of their own accord. "We don't have them. We handed them over to the police when we were debriefed." continued the raven haired girl.

I rolled my eyes at her and hooked the hood of the red girl with the handle of my parasol and pushed her off the roof.

"No!" they screamed in unison as they jumped forward an inch or two. With the younger girl dangling from her hood, I used the hand that was not holding her up to gesture for them to hand the pills over.

"Please. We don't have them. Just give us a few days and we can get them handed over to you." the blond pleaded. I don't have a few days. I looked over the edge before I unhooked the red girl's hood and teleported away.

* * *

"Ruby!" Yang screamed as she raced to the edge of the roof.

"I got her." Weiss yelled from the ground floor. Ruby hadn't fallen more than a few feet before landing on one of Weiss's glyphs. The glyph rose to be level with the roof and Yang and Blake pulled her off of it onto the roof.

"Ruby! Wake up." Yang yelled at her sister.

"Five more minutes." Ruby mumbled before snuggling into her sisters arms.

"What the hell! She was in our room. She could have killed us all in our sleep!" Yang breathed, the excitement of the events making her breathless. Blake didn't respond but instead took out her scroll and dialed a number.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked.

"Warning the police station." Blake stated as the number rang.

"Oh come on, I give no credit to her but do you think that she is stupid or arrogant enough to raid a police station for some drugs?" Yang stated. Blake, again, gave no answer as she waited for the phone to ring through.

"911 emergency re..." the operator stated before they were cut off by the sound of an explosion. Blake gave a wary look to Yang as the call lost connection.


	3. Pain

Putting a lit match into the fuel tank of a parked patrol car is a very bad idea. That is, it is a bad idea when you are not me. I was able to watch the explosion from the roof of the station and watch the officers come filing out one by one.

I turned around and severed the power cable of the building. Then, one at a time, I transported armed grunts from the White Fang hideout to the opposite side of the burning car.

Shots were instantly fired, I don't know who from, and that was all the distraction I needed. I entered the police station and drew my blade. I threaded the blade through the handles, barring the doors from any intruders or escapees.

A shot was fired from the dark interior of the station. It missed and I teleported behind the man that shot at me and disarmed him of his gun. He held his hands up as I pointed his weapon at him. I searched his desk and squinted in the dim emergency lights to find his badge. Detective. Not someone I'm interested in then.

I realized that the reason that he had not followed the rest of the officers outside was because he had a leg injury, complete with crutches and a leg cast. Before disassembling the weapon I broke his cast with a kick to his leg and threw his crutches across the room. Evidence. Where was the evidence and contraband stored? Somewhere in the back I suppose.

I moved towards the back of the station before I collapsed in pain. It felt like I had been shot in the shoulder but there was no sound of a gunshot. I checked it with my hand and found that there was no wound.

It was stage three, shooting pains and extreme temperature sensations. Figures, I had been running around all day with no rest. It would stand to reason that exhaustion would have accelerated the symptoms. However, if there was ever a time for sleep in this whole mess I had missed my chance.

I got back to my feet and headed to the back of the station. There I found a man cowering behind a desk in front of what seemed to be the evidence lock up. I grabbed him and pulled him onto his own desk.

"Please d-don't kill me." he begged as I pulled up a video on my scroll. I turn my scroll to face him and showed him my little surveillance video of the multicolored foursome entering the police station earlier today.

"You want th-the pills they brought in? They're n-not here." he stated. I rolled my eyes and stepped up my interrogation. I transported us both up to the roof of a 60 floor office building. I held the man over the edge.

"N-n-no please." the man begged "After we filed them we got orders to send them too General Ironwood, I swear.". This was most unwelcome news. Suddenly, a scorching sensation popped up in my ribcage and I flinched. The man fell out of my grasp.

I transported down the few floors he had dropped and teleported again with him in hand. I made a quick check from the harbor docks to make sure he could swim after I dropped him into the harbor.

I traveled back to the station to retrieve my blade and noticed that the gunfire had stopped. I knew Cinder would be angry at me for using her grunts without her permission so I teleported to the back of the station, once again, to retrieve a peace offering. I retrieved the police records hard drives and left them at Cinders bace. Hopefully she would appreciate them and find a use for them.

I quickly returned home and raided my medicine cabinet for pain killers. What was I going to do? I can't take on a warship, not even with all of Cinders resources.

I winced as another sharp pain popped up in my hand. I was relieved that the pain killers numbed it slightly.

Screw it. I don't have the luxury of sitting around and coming up with a plan. I don't have the time and my mind was growing duller by the second. I just needed to 'borrow' one more thing from Cinder. Explosives.


	4. Hallucinations

**Authors Note: So this chapter may come as a disappointment to some of you. I detest writing action and it is the reason this chapter took so long. It gave me writers block for so long I just decided to let you come up with an awesome action scene yourself. The good news is that with this out of the way the remaining chapters will be completed promptly and uploaded.**

**Hint: This chapter may be a little bit confusing but as the title suggests, the final symptom is hallucinations.**

It was so loud I couldn't hear myself think. The dust powered engines on top of the warship were anything but quite. I quickly armed one of the harnesses full of explosives and threw it at one of the air intake valves. After it was sucked in, there was a loud bang followed with the ship listing to the side. I teleported inside.

"Intruder detec-" one of the two robots in the room started before I cut it down. The other one turned its gun on me and fired, destroying the other robot. I quickly destroyed the other robot and then teleported over to the door and destroyed the access panel. I didn't want any interruptions with ... Cinder? What was she doing sitting in Ironwoods chair?

* * *

Ironwood was sitting at his desk enjoying the few moments he gets to himself in a day. A scheduling error has left him without any obligations or appointments for the next five minutes and he was intending to enjoy the piece and quite in his office.

Suddenly, a large explosion caused the whole ship to list to the side.

"What the hell was that?!" Ironwood exclaimed as the emergency lighting kicked in.

"Intruder detec-" one of his robot guards started before it was cut off. Ironwood looked over to his guards to see one shooting at the other one. The red emergency lights illuminated the scene just long enough for Ironwood to see the pink hair girl Ozpin's students described to him, destroying the door mechanism.

She turned her attentions to Ironwood and surprised him by simply staring at him with a quizzical look on her face. She looked like she was slightly scared of Ironwood.

"I never thought you would go this far to reclaim these pills. Very well, it seems there is no stoping you from reclaiming them at this point." Ironwood said, reaching into his desk and pulling out a clear plastic bag with a hefty amount of large blue pills contained within.

* * *

Cinder was withholding the pills from me? This didn't make any sense. Why was she here and why was she just giving me the pills back? My questioning was halted when a sharp pain cropped up in my hip.

None of this mattered, all I needed was one of those pills. I walked briskly to the desk and took the pills. I promptly teleported back to the ground and swallowed two of the pills as quickly as I could. Now all I could do was wait.

* * *

As soon as Ironwood was alone in his office he made a call to Ozpin.

"Ozpin! She took the false pills with the tracking devices. Get all of your students and huntsmen mobilized. We will attack in force as soon as she gives us the location of the White Fang headquarters." Ironwood stated.

"We can't wait that long. The test results on the real pills just came in. Where is she now?" Ozpin asked.

* * *

Why wasn't it working? I swallowed another pill. My head was still spinning, my body numb with the exception of shooting pains, and my hands shaking.

"Poor poor Neo. See how well you do without me?" Cinder mocked from beside me. She was sitting on the park bench beside me. How did she get here? I lashed out at her but I hit nothing.

"You can't get rid of me Neo. Your my property, my belonging and without me you have no purpose. Without me you don't exist." Cinder said, now behind me leaning on the bench. No, this isn't real. You don't exist without me.

"Oh really. Tell me, of the two of us, who is about to die because I haven't given you your treatment." Cinder stated. No. I took the pills. I am going to be fine.

"You know your not fine Neo. Forget these pills; They don't work. You know were to get good pills." Cinder suggested. These belong to me. These pills are mine; My one bit of freedom since I joined your organization. Cinder vanished into vapor and appeared in front of me.

"You obviously can't be trusted with your own freedom. Come back. We will give you the treatment you need. Come with us. Just give in." Cinder coaxed.

* * *

'What was wrong with her? Her eyes were all hazy and she was shaking' Yang thought as she approached Neo on the park bench. Yang didn't know why she was the one that had to offer Neo the chance to turn herself in. It didn't matter that she was the one with the most contact with her, they were always trying to kill each other when they met so anyone else would have been better.

"Ahem ... N-Neo. I have been told to offer you a chance to turn yourself in. We have your pills and can give you the treatment you need. Come with us now and we can negotiate a deal." Yang stated. It looked like Neo heard her but she didn't seem like she was in the right mind. She looked at Yang but she seemed to be looking right through her.

* * *

My freedom belongs to me. I stood up and swung my parasol at Cinder only this time she didn't dissipate. My parasol was caught by the blond Huntress. I looked at her confused before I took a hard punch in the gut from her that sent me flying back several feet. I landed on my back and scrambled to my feet.

This was all her fault.

Upon seeing Yang take a hit and retaliate the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR charged. Neo had gotten to her feet and saw the teams converging on her. She readied herself for a fight.

* * *

[Insert your imagination on what a Neo vs everyone fight would look like here]

* * *

Neo fell to the ground screaming with her hands on her head. Her symptoms were coming to a climax. Her ears rung with the sound of a wave coming on shore but never broke and continued to grow louder and deeper. The scene in front of her eyes continued to swirl and mutate into ridiculous and frightening scenes.

Yang walked up to her warily and looked at her in pity as she screamed. Neo was lifted up by the blond and the last thing she saw was the flash of her gauntlets as she took a direct blow to the face.


	5. Memories

**Prologue:**

I was somewhat disappointed with myself but mostly I was angry with Roman. Three hundred lien a month?! I should have known better. I should have known someone like Roman would have tried to screw me over.

I guess the only reason I accepted to be his bodyguard/teleporting chauffeur was because three hundred sounded like a lot to me a week ago. I had never had an education or, consequently, a job so I couldn't do the math an find out that I was being payed less than a waitress.

The event that started this whole thing was me overhearing two White Fang grunts packaging some stolen dust crystals.

* * *

"Try to look tough the next time he comes by here." the taller of the two said.

"I dunno. I get payed fine as it is. I don't think I want to risk my neck on a heist for a little bonus." the short one said.

"It's not a little bonus. 10,000 lien per job." the tall one said.

"Really?" the short one replied.

WHAT?! I was with Roman on all his heists and teleported him to and from each one. In short, I was the reason he was having so much success stealing all the dust. Granted I haven't done any fighting but neither did these slackers.

I immediately stormed off to go and demand a pay raise from Roman. I didn't care that he was in a meeting with his employer, to which I was not invited to join. I approached the door and felt like kicking it down before I heard elevated voices within.

"You know this 'I'm never pleased' act you are putting on is really starting to wear me down. I'll admit there are some things I haven't done without flaw but if you are suggesting that I in anyway made a wrong decision recruiting Neo, your a little bit out of your mind." Roman half yelled.

"Neo?" a woman's voice sounded from behind the door.

"Well what else was I going to call her. She's mute and illiterate and the first thing she did with her paycheck was dye her hair like that. It's Neopolitan, or are you going to criticize what I call her now too?" Roman stated.

"Roman I am paying for a professional thief. If you want praise become an entertainer." the woman said in a cool voice.

"It's just a little hard to not know the subtleties of your grand master plan and trust you are making sane decisions when you complain about my perfect henchwoman. She can fight, she can't talk to the cops, complain, give lip, she can freaking TELEPORT, and the best part is that she does all this practically for free." Roman vented.

"And that is the problem Roman. Yes she is very useful but there will come a time when she has learned enough from you and doesn't need you any more. Eventually she is going to be successful at robbing a bank. Then she will have no need for employment. Paying her three hundred lien a month will only make her come to this realization faster." the woman stated. "And it seems that I'm not the only one that thinks so." she continued before the door opened.

All the resolve and anger I had towards Roman was dissolved by the shock of being caught eavesdropping. I was frozen in fear despite the woman's calm demeanor.

"Come inside. I have been dying to meet you. Is it alright if I call you Neo?" the woman coaxed. I nodded and took in a stuttered breath. I slowly walked into the room.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not mad at you for eavesdropping. You should have been part of the conversation anyways." the woman coaxed while ushering me into a chair.

"How rude of me. I haven't told you my name. I am Cinder Fall. I've been employing Roman for the last month now." Cinder said. I nodded acknowledging that I heard her. She sat down across a the table from me.

"Now, you were about to barge in and demand to be payed more, as you should have been, am I right." Cinder asked. I paused for a long while and considered if I should just keep my three hundred lien a month. I ended up slowly nodding.

"Very well then. I already have a new payment strategy in mind." Cinder said. Her words were concluded with a loud bang and a pain in my stomach. I fell backwards in my chair and clutched at my stomach. To my surprise, I did not find a bullet wound but instead my hands found a palm-sized metal cylinder.

"God dammit Cinder!" Roman cried out in shock.

"Hush Roman. Now ... Neo ... the smart thing to do when someone injects you with an unknown substance is not to run." Cinder said, an odd looking pistol in her hand. Smart or not the next thing I did was pull out the dart and teleport to the hospital.

I stumbled through the ER doors. I fell to my knees clutching my stomach in front of the check in desk. I was immediately ushered to a room where doctors examined my wound and nurses stuck IV's into my hands.

* * *

It started with me feeling that I was floating. A day later my hands started to shake. Then I felt like I was burning. I had no criminal record at this point so I was given treatment as a normal citizen, although it didn't feel like it.

Everyone else that came to the hospital came here to get better while I only got worse. The doctors tried and tried with different shots, pills, and inhalers but nothing was working. Then somewhere around my third day in the hospital a nurse came into my room.

"Tisk tisk. Look at the state you have gotten yourself into now, Neo." a familiar voice came from behind the nurses mask. The nurse pulled her mask down to reveal herself as Cinder. My first instinct was to teleport away but my symptoms and the pain killers were making it impossible to focus.

"I'm sure you have already learned the basics of what is happening to you right now but let me fill you in completely. You have a very expensive, very slow acting, and very unique neurotoxin flowing through your veins right now. It is first absorbed by your nerves in your muscles and then makes it's way to your brain. After it has been fully absorbed into your brain you will ... quite simply ... die." Cinder said. She had a wicked grin on her face.

"But there is a silver lining. There is a drug that will act as a sort of sponge and draw the toxin out of your nerves and hold it, harmlessly, in your blood stream. Unfortunately, this drug breaks down in your bloodstream after 24 hours although the toxin does not. In addition, this drug is impossible to find on the open market." Cinder stated. I knew where this was going.

"I know that forcing this on you must have been very traumatizing but if you were in my position you might do the same. Work for me and I promise you will never feel these symptoms again. I promise that you will be paid 5000 lien a week. I promise that I will look after you, Neo." Cinder cooed. She stroked my hair with all the care and devotion of a mother. She looked into my eyes and I could swear I saw genuine concern.

With a nod, I traded away my freedom for a large blue pill.


	6. Treatment

"Well, the good news is that the damage isn't theoretically permanent." a doctor informed both Ozpin and Ironwood.

"What do you mean 'theoretically'?" Ironwood asked.

"Well, everything concerning her case is theoretical really. We have never seen this type of neurotoxin before. The nerve and brain damage that it appears to have caused is not really damage. The toxin is absorbed in her cells and it is interfering with them functioning properly but they are not damaged." The doctor elaborated.

"So she could be faking her memory loss?" Ironwood suggested.

"That ... is not likely. We have tested her reflex actions and they have been slowed considerably. She is also lacking the motor control in her legs that would allow her to walk. The same type of damage must have happened to her brain tissue." the doctor explained.

"You don't know for sure?" Ironwood questioned.

"No. We would have to use the MRI to see her brain activity and we haven't been cleared to take off her handcuffs. We would have to remove all metal on her body before preceding with the test." the doctor explained.

"This has to be a trick Ozpin. For all we know the handcuffs are what is keeping her from teleporting." Ironwood stated.

"Calm down James. There is no need to rush decisions right now. She is stable and secured." Ozpin said to Ironwood. Ozpin then turned to the doctor and asked "If the damages are not permanent then I take it you have a cure in mind?".

"Yes but we can't perform it right now. What we would do is flood her system with a large amount of the drug. This should draw the toxin out of her cells and cure her. We could then use a modified dialysis machine to filter the toxin out of her blood for good. The problem is that we don't have enough of the drugs to do this. There are enough pills to last her for around three weeks. We can stretch that to three months if we give her the proper care but we will need more than we have now to cure her and we don't know how to make more of the drug right now." The doctor explained.

"So if nothing is done in three months, she will die?" Ozpin asked to which the doctor nodded. "Would the MRI help in finding a way to manufacture these drugs." Ozpin asked.

"Yes." The doctor said.

"Oz. You can't be serious." Ironwood stated.

"First I am going to test her to see if she is faking and if she is not, she will get the MRI." Ozpin stated.

"How are you going to do that?" Ironwood asked.

"Monitor her heart rate while she is alone with someone she should fear." Ozpin stated bluntly.

* * *

Both team RWBY and team JNPR were in the hospital partly because they had sustained injury from their fight with Neo and partly because they wanted to see what was happening with their nemesis.

"Miss Xiao Long. I have a special assignment for you." Ozpin stated ushering her to the back of the hospital.

* * *

"Why does everybody assume that I am the best one to talk to her? I'm probably the worst person to do that. We always attack each other." Yang protested.

"That is why you are the best person for this job. She should be afraid of you by now and if she has retained her memories she won't be able to hide that." Ozpin stated. Yang sighed and then turned to enter the isolation room.

* * *

Neo was sitting, reclined, on a hospital bed. She had a small welt on her left cheek bone were Yang had hit her. Her aura must have healed most of her face already.

Yang had prepared herself for the cocky grin that always seemed plastered on her face. Yang wasn't prepared to see Neo looking at her with a warm smile. Neo raised her left hand as far as the handcuff would allow and gave a childlike wave to Yang.

"H-hi." Yang stated. Yang then walked next to Neo's bed and took a seat on a chair. Neo looked at Yang expectantly with a gleeful enthusiasm on her face. She continued to stare and Yang stared right back at her for a long time. Eventually, Yang remembered why she was here.

"Do you ... you remember me at all?" Yang asked. A sad look flash across Neo's face before she shook her head.

"Oh" Yang stated, not knowing where to go from there. Neo's sad look quickly changed and she was staring at Yang expectantly again. Yang didn't know what to make of it.

"Oh ... my name is Yang" Yang stated. Neo then pointed to herself and cocked her head.

"Um ... your name is Neo" Yang said uneasily. After Neo heard her name she stared off into the distance. After a moments contemplation Neo shook her head back and forth. She didn't recognizer her own name.

"Do you remember anything?" Yang asked. To this Neo showed a small space between her index finger and her thumb.

"Like what?" Yang asked. Yang could see the muscles in her neck strain slightly. Neo, again, had a sad look on her face. Yang realized that even without possible brain damage Neo wouldn't be able to answer an open ended question like that.

Neo then tried to convey a question of her own by, pointing at Yang, pointing at her head, shrugging her shoulders, pointing at herself, and then covering her mouth with her hand.

"No. I don't know why you are mute." Yang said. Ozpin came in the door just then.

"Yang you can leave now if you wish." Ozpin said. Neo waved goodbye to Yang as she left the room. "There was no increase in her heart rate. It seems like the damage is real." Ozpin informed both Yang, Ironwood, and the doctor.

"Should I prep the MRI table?" the doctor asked. Ironwood gave a nod and he and the doctor left to go about their business.

"You seem troubled Yang?" Ozpin stated.

"It's just ... I ... I always wanted to beat my enemies ... but now ... I just never knew that you should stop fighting before they break." Yang stated.

**AN: This is the end unless everyone really wants more. I have one more chapter in me anyways before I am fresh out of ideas. Hopefully I will see all of you readers on my main story "Godly Whims". I am going to use this same drug and Neurotoxin combo in that story eventually too.**


	7. Entrance

"Do you really think that this is a wise decision?" Ironwood asked Ozpin.

"The doctors say she has the mental capacity of a ten year old now, so what are you afraid of?" Ozpin replied.

"If she is eventually going to be cured do you really want her gaining intel on your school. She will most likely keep all the memories she makes in her current state." Ironwood explained.

"I'm counting on it. If we expose her to nothing but handcuffs and locked doors, the first thing she will want to do when she is cured is escape. It is better to expose her to open spaces and hope that she will choose to stay." Ozpin countered.

Neo was playing with the newest toy the doctors had given her. They called it a wheelchair and she was having a blast ramming into hospital beds with it. The doctors said that she could be taught to walk again, like and infant learning for the first time, but it may cause her more harm than good if she did get her mussel memory back if she was cured. Naturally the doctors decided on giving her the wheelchair so she wouldn't end up learning how to walk twice.

"Time to go Neo" Yang stated, holding the door open for her to wheel herself out.

Outside was a whole new world to her. The distance from the hospital to the airship was made much longer for the whole group of team RWBY, JNPR, Ozpin, and Ironwood with his guards because of Neo constantly wanting to stop to observe a lamp post or a flower.

The few things that remained in Neo's memories were completely evident to everyone around her. For example, after taking so long staring in awe over a parked car, Neo was completely unimpressed by her flight on the Bullhead.

Neo gasped as Yang wheeled her out of the aircraft and onto Beacon's campus.

"Neo, feel free to explore the campus while we get your medicine prepared in the infirmary." Ozpin said. Neo nodded, even though the man used a lot of big words she didn't fully understand, she assumed that she was given permission to explore. Neo took off on her wheelchair.

"Now, if you are to exhausted from your engagement with her I understand but I would like one team to keep an eye on her while she is here, for her own safety. Do any of you volunteer?" Ozpin asked.

"Actually I think we would all like to do that, right guys?" Jaune said turning to team RWBY and the rest of his team. The uniqueness of this event was far too tantalizing for any of them to turn away from. Both teams unanimously nodded together.

"Very well, you had better hurry before she gets too far away then." Ozpin said with a faint smile.

Neo was speeding around Beacon in her wheelchair and purposely bumping into people that she wanted to be introduced to. It was up to the two teams that followed her to explain why she was hitting everyone. Neo looked to her left and felt fear for some reason. Something about that group of students had inexplicably made her emotions flare up.

Without any restraint Neo wheeled herself up to the students in the black and grey uniforms and tugged at the skirt of what looked to be their leader to get her attention. The woman turned and looked at Neo with her blazing amber eyes as Neo looked at her with an expression of excitement and confusion. There was something about her that sparked something within Neo but she didn't know why.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked. Neo was caught in a loop of trying to understand her connection to this woman. The woman was cool and calm while the two students beside her, one with green hair and red eyes and the other with silver hair and grey eyes, looked worried.

"Sorry if she is bothering you." Ruby stated, being the first one to catch up to Neo.

"Yes she actually is." the woman said.

"Oh ... okay then lets go meet more friendly people Neo." Ruby stated, shocked at how bluntly rude she was. Neo resisted and stayed with the woman. Neo couldn't explain her feelings and couldn't remember this person so she decided to react on instinct. Neo reached out with one hand in a begging gesture because it felt right to do in the presence of this woman.

At this point the rest of the two teams caught up to Neo and witnessed her asking to receive something from this woman.

"When have they allowed crippled beggars onto the campus?" the woman complained.

"Come on Neo" Ruby said, wheeling her away. Yang and Pyrrha exchanged looks and then looked back at the exchange students from Haven.

"So your from Haven huh? What year are you in?" Pyrrha asked.

"Second." the woman replied.

"Oh so then you should have been in Sanctum for Prof. Brown's last year before retirement, right?" Pyrrha asked a little too eagerly.

"No. We actually all had private tutors for our combat education." the woman stated.

"That's pretty lucky that you all had private tutors, and ended up on the same team together, and got into Haven despite its requirement of having to have one year at a combat school before you are eligible to apply." Pyrrha stated.

"My late husband was a very powerful man and was able to ... persuade ... the registration office." the woman said.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Pyrrha said backing away. The story was very suspicious but Pyrrha didn't know all the rich and powerful in Minstrel enough to accuse this woman of being false right now. However, Pyrrha was sure to research Minstrel's elite the first chance she got.

**AN: Okay so after some ideas from private messaging and from the comments I have come up with a continuing storyline. However, don't be surprised if I end it after next chapter as that is mostly how I was going to end it but I added a few tweaks to keep the story going.**


	8. Parole

**Two weeks later**

It felt like I had a huge weight lifted off of my brain. It was a really hard sensation to describe as not many people have suffered brain damage and then have it disappear as if it was a dream.

I stretched my arms as I awoke even though I knew that this had not been a dream; It was just the anesthesia wearing off.

"Ah your awake." a man said near me. My eyes shot open to see a man with grey hair sitting beside my bed. He closed a book he had been reading and turned his attention to me. He was unarmed and didn't look all that threatening.

"Do you remember your name?" the man asked. To this I gave him an incredulous look.

"I take that to mean it worked. My name is Prof. Ozpin and you, Neopolitan, have created a lot of work for me over the last few weeks." Prof. Ozpin explained. I let him prattle on as I observed my surroundings. A blue bag of liquid hung to the side of my bed and was being pumped into my arm with the tube resting over metal handcuffs that bound me to the bed.

"Let me explain to you your situation. After you lost your medication to one of my students it came to me. I had it analyzed and I found out about your condition. Unfortunately, this happened too late and you succumbed to the Neurotoxin. Your nervous system was dulled quite severely but after doctors had examined you and the medicine you carried they were able to come up with a way to cure both you nervous system and a way to rid you of that toxin." Ozpin summarized. Wait, what? I'm free?!

"Unfortunately, too many people are concerned of what you might do if you are completely cured. In addition, you should know that in your dulled state you unwittingly exposed your previous compatriots in this school. Therefore, I would assume that would make the Vale government the only party willing to provide you with treatment." Ozpin added. Of course, really good news is always too good to be true. I was already mentally preparing myself to teleport into a bank vault as Cinder suggested before she leashed me.

"As a result we have only restored your nervous system. You are still reliant on the drug. You should know that there was also significant political pressure to put you in jail for what you have done regardless of your reasons for doing it but I have a feeling that those efforts would be for nothing." Ozpin stated. I gave him a smirk and my forearms started to glow white. In a flash my forearms teleported up a towards my chest and the handcuffs and IV fell free onto the bed. Ozpin seemed reasonably impressed with my escape act.

"I am giving you a chance to prove that you will not be a danger to society if you are freed from this toxin. We will be administering your medication and observing you here at this school. If you display good behavior and an unwillingness to break societies laws we may consider completing the procedure and letting you go free." Ozpin stated. It was a tempting offer. Here I had the chance to go free but Cinder paid me 5000 a week. Then again, I vaguely remembered how I outed Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury so I don't think she would be willing to pay me again.

Oh crap! Where was my wallet and my parasol.

Ozpin saw me searching for my belongings and stated "Your weapon will be given back to you but we have dulled the blade and capped the tip. It should still be useful in sparring matches. As for your wallet, the cash you can keep but the bank accounts paired with the cards you had in there have been frozen and are under investigation. I would doubt you will see that money again.". It just keeps getting better an better. Now all my savings are gone too. That settles it. As soon as I have convinced these bookworms that I am a nice girl, my next stop is the vault of Vale national bank.

"When you are ready you may get dressed and leave. I have assigned one person to administer your medicine while you are here. She is waiting for you outside." Ozpin stated while getting up and exiting. On the whole, I was happy about my situation. I could always steal more money and I doubt I would be tasked as harshly with these people as I was with Cinder. It shouldn't be too hard to trick my observers into thinking that I was harmless.

I exited the infirmary and froze as I saw who was holding my pill for the day. Never mind, it is going to be very hard to convince **her**.

With a pill in one hand and a water bottle in the other, the blond brawler stood waiting for me in the hallway.


	9. Errands

We walked briskly through the hallways. She had seen me come out of the infirmary and then turned and started walking immediately. I was unsure if I should follow her at first but then I remembered I needed the pill in her hand.

"Lets set some ground rules. You will report to me or my teammates every day at 8:00 AM for your pill. You will do as you are told and report back to us after every task is complete until 8:00 PM." the blond commanded.

Good god. I am pretty sure I would have more freedom in prison than under her command.

"If you do not perform your duties or decide to leave for the day, you will not receive your pill the next day." the blond dictated. She stopped walking and turned to me. "Am I clear?" the blond stated cockily. I glared up at her. She glared back down at me.

"It doesn't seem like you understand. Maybe I should just wait a day and see if you are more attentive then?" she stated turning to leave. I grabbed her arm. I wanted to hit her so bad but having so recently fallen off my treatment, I didn't want to feel the symptoms again. The blond turned back to me with a smirk on her face.

"It's nice to know you understand. Come on. You will get your pill after you meet my team." She mocked as she turned to leave again.

* * *

The blond opened the door to her dorm and I entered with her. Almost immediately I was caught in the tight embrace of the red girl.

"Your all better!" she said in an upbeat and sickeningly perky sort of way. This was kind of awkward. Although I had foggy memories of this girl pushing me around in a wheelchair my most recent, vivid memory of her was when I pushed her off the roof of this building.

"So ... you remember our names right?" the red one asked, releasing her embrace and letting me breathe. I shook my head. I didn't even know their names before I fell off my treatment.

"Oh, I'm Ruby. That's Blake ..." Ruby said as she pointed to the black themed Faunus. She acknowledged that I was here with an unenthusiastic wave.

" ... That's Weiss ..." Ruby continued. Unlike Blake, Weiss didn't even acknowledge my existence as she stared right through me with an icy glare.

"... And that's Yang, my sister." Ruby finished. Oh yes, I knew Yang. A smirk grew on my face as I could see that Ruby's obvious liking to me was annoying Yang.

"Alright! That's enough meet and greet time with the psychopath!" Yang stated "Here is your first task.". Yang handed me a small amount of lien, a piece of paper, my pill, and the bottle of water to wash it down. I eagerly swallowed the pill and discarded the water bottle. I looked at the paper and immediately shook my head and tried to hand it back to Yang.

"I don't care if you think your above getting groceries, that is your task. If you don't complete it then you won't get your pill tomorrow." Yang stated sternly. Groceries? Oh, it must be a list. I turned the list around and pointed to the first line of text.

"Um ... yeah that's cream ... for coffee o-of course. We go through a lot of it." Blake stated. I then pointed to the next line.

"**You** go through a lot." Yang stated, earning a glare from Blake.

"Neo ... you can read, right?" Ruby asked. I shook my head. Everyone in the room sighed. What? Illiteracy had never been that big a deal for me before.

"How can you not read?!" Weiss whined. I shrugged. I surmised, from an early age, that there was no point for me to get an education. Orphanages can't pay for you to go to Signal or Beacon and if you were going to be educated you might as well go all the way or don't even bother with education in the first place. The latter was the only sensible option for me and I had been doing fine pickpocketing ever since, until Roman offered me a job.

Weiss sighed and then said "Alright, lets go through the list.". She then proceeded to vocalize all the items on the list. Once she went through the list once I pointed to the sixth item. "That's shampoo and that is a six beside it because Yang will go through it all in two weeks." Weiss explained.

I then nodded and teleported to the store. I really misjudged how heavy all these groceries were going to be. I fumbled around with the unorganized stack of groceries to the dairy department and picked up the last item, the cream. I then teleported back to the dorm room.

"Eek" Ruby squeaked out of shock as I reappeared in the room.

"Well that was fast." Blake commented, grabbing the cream from the bundle of groceries in my arms. I set the rest of the groceries down on the night stand an let the girls sort through them.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. That was too fast, even for her. Neo turn out your pockets." Yang stated. I turned out my left pocket to show that it was empty. Unfortunately Yang wasn't satisfied. "And your right pocket!" She demanded.

I emptied my right pocket to reveal the Lien I was supposed to use for the groceries. "Go back and pay for them." Yang demanded. I was about to teleport away when Yang said "Ah ah ah. You can't just give them the money. They have to scan the groceries. Take them all back and pay for them.".

Oh come on, I don't want to carry all that stuff again. My shoulders slumped. I grabbed all the groceries and teleported back to the store.

* * *

I returned thirty minutes later out of breath and dropped all the groceries on the floor. The cream was leaking as it had a bullet hole right through it.

"What happened?" Ruby asked. As soon as I got my breath back I led them to the nearest TV and turned it to the news station.

"An exciting morning here at Vale's northern grocery store as Police recognized the perpetrator of the attack on the police station last month, buying groceries. Police tried to apprehend the perpetrator who resisted and then collected her groceries before she disappeared into thin air. I am here with Bob who was the grocery clerk who served the criminal in question. So, Bob, what did this person say to you?" A female reporter on screen stated.

"Uh ... well ... she didn't speak at all. She just stood in line and ... she actually overpaid for the groceries. The cookies she bought were on sale and she overpaid by five fifty." Bob stated.

I glared back at Yang who didn't seem remorseful that she caused this at all. "Don't think your done for the day. Your cleaning up the spilled cream in the dorm and your going to find a **LEGAL** way to pay me back the five fifty you wasted."


	10. Plan

Stupid cream. Stupid Yang. Stupid police. I can't believe that I had to go and buy cleaning supplies after what happened. This time, when they sent me for cleaning supplies, they forced me to wear a beanie over my identifying hair but that was besides the point. I brought back all the groceries intact the first time. It was only when Yang made me go back a second time that a bullet found it's way into the cream.

Now I was scrubbing the floor while the rest of team Perky, Cold, Distant, and Overbearing were off doing god knows what. I understood the whole 'Might as well let Neo clean because she is dependent on us', Cinder did the same thing for the longest time, it was smart, but acting as if it was my fault was a little too much.

I can understand why they would have a little grudge against me, I was their enemy. However, Yang seemed to have it out for me which was totally unfair. What did I ever do to her? Besides trying ... to ... kill her and ... kidnapping and ... throwing her sister off ... the roof. Okay maybe she has the right to be a little mad.

* * *

"Hello professor Ozpin." Ruby greeted for the whole team. After the story about Neo had hit the news all of team RWBY had been summoned to the headmasters office.

"Miss Xiao Long. I put Neo in your care an hour ago and I have already received a report that she has caused trouble in Northern Vale. This doesn't lend much credit to your plan of keeping her dependent on your team." Ozpin stated.

"Sorry professor. I'll be sure to keep a tighter hold on Neo." Yang stated.

"Yang!" Ruby protested, giving her sister a look. "It wasn't Neo's fault or ours, sir. We sent Neo to get groceries and she stole them out of habit or convenience, I really don't know why. We made her go back and pay for them and that is when the police noticed her and tried to arrest her. If it's anyones fault it was the police.".

"You sent her to retrieve groceries?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes. Can I ask a question sir? Why did the police try to arrest her?" Weiss asked.

"She is a well known criminal but the deal we have offered her is not as well known. I will contact the chief of police and inform him of how we are dealing with her. Before I do that I would like to discuss why you thought it a good idea to send her on a grocery run." Ozpin asked.

"I thought she was being evaluated on if she will be a danger to society if we let her go?" Yang asked.

"That is her role in this situation, yes. However, you four are being evaluated on your abilities that will make you an effective huntress. If you succeed in graduating from this school you could be sent to defend a village full of people who are depending on you to save them from the Grimm. I expect you to know how to properly utilize the help of these villagers. Now, if I put a person who can teleport themselves and others in your care, I expect you all to be able to utilize them to their full potential and not abuse their dependance on you for convenience. Where is Neo now?" Ozpin preached.

"She is ... uh ... cleaning our room." Yang stated. Ozpin's facial features hardened a little.

"So far you have not impressed me with how you can utilize the strengths of those around you. Make no mistake that Neo is not the only one being evaluated here. You are all dismissed" Ozpin stated.

* * *

I thought I could rely on my senses. I had long finished cleaning the room and the vigorous scrubbing and harsh chemicals had made me dizzy. I thought I would just lay down for a few seconds.

I didn't feel like climbing onto the two, precariously hanging, top bunks so I settled in on the bottom left bed. These beds were softer than I was used to, their sheets, silkier. I told myself I would hear them if they came back.

* * *

"Awwww" a soft, kind voice sounded in the depths of my dreams.

"What is she doing in my bed?!" a shrill, evil, nasty voice shocked me awake.

My head rocketed up from the pillow and I tried my best to fake that I wasn't just napping. Unfortunately, my hair was all disheveled from my nap so my attempt to save face was misguided. When my eyes adjusted, I saw Ruby and the icy heiress, looking like she was about to explode.

"Calm down Weiss. Ruby's had tons of naps in your bed and you haven't even noticed. This isn't much different." Blake stated from behind them with a coy smirk.

"What!? Ruby!? Explain yourself!" Weiss demanded.

Ruby replied looking down with a small voice "Well I uh ... my bed is kinda hard to get into and uh ... when I'm really tired it's just easier to ... uh".

The heiress sighed and then said "I really can't yell at either of you properly on an empty stomach so this will have to wait. Get up Neo! We are going to lunch.". Ruby and I quickly stood at attention and closely followed Weiss, hoping not to enrage the beast further.

Yang was surprisingly quiet and wasn't barking orders to me for the whole walk to the buffet restaurant. I looked around for a server but there were none. I closely followed my team of captors as they seemed to know what to do in this situation.

Really? No one was watching the food or stopping people for payment as they left. This restaurant had very little security but it was most likely team 'go get us groceries' wasn't going to dine and dash.

"I got it!" Yang unexpectedly blurted out, earning her quizzical looks from her team and myself. "We'll get her to take us to all the White Fang hideouts she knows of after classes. That is responsible and using the strengths or whatever Ozpin said." Yang stated.

"That's ... actually a pretty good idea Yang." Blake said. What was happening now?

"Are you okay with showing us all the White Fang hideouts you know of?" Ruby asked me. Are they serious? They are going to be killed. There are almost 90 guards at all times at the port side dust stash and the guards at the abandoned train yard use about half the mechs they are guarding to help them patrol.

I was about to shake my head when a new idea popped into my head. If I get them in and then swoop in and teleport them to safety when they are about to be overwhelmed, I'll be the hero. Maybe then, Yang will give me an allowance of those pills as a reward, like Cinder did after the train.

I shrugged my shoulders as nonchalantly as I could.


	11. Classes

This was really funny. Scratch that, this was hilarious. All of their condescending and high and mighty attitudes and team RWBY just dined and dashed. I tried to stifle a giggle as we walked through the halls.

Yang turned to give me a quizzical look.

"Something funny?" Yang asked. I pointed back at the restaurant, to them, and then rubbed my fingers together.

"That was the cafeteria Neo, not a restaurant. Students can use it for free." Ruby explained.

I scoffed at the explanation. There was nothing in this world that was given away for free.

"Actually it is included in the cost of tuition." Weiss added. There it is.

"Not if you got a scholarship." Blake chimed in.

"For the last time, just because the three of you got scholarships and I payed my way does not mean you are better fighters." Weiss whined. Wait a second, these girls got to become huntresses for free? That's ... that's ... discrimination. I should sue someone ... or at very least rob them for this injustice. Everyone should have to pay their way. If they don't, then what is the point of having money?

"Why don't we test that princess. First round in Glynda's class, you and me." Yang challenged.

"Absolutely." Weiss affirmed as she opened the door to a large room that housed a fighting arena.

All the students filed in and took their seats in the stands. The instructor asked for volunteers for the first fight and Yang's and Weiss' hands shot up. They both took their positions and began to fight. It was kind of relaxing. The fight was intense, with some of Yangs projectiles missing and hitting walls near the stands, but it was familiar. Even inside a room I had never been in before I felt slightly at home. If the next two classes were about pickpocketing and extortion I might just begin to like it here.

Suddenly I felt a presence next to me. The Faunus was now sitting closer to me, reading her book as the match progressed.

"So can you read at all?" She asked out of the blue. I shrugged. I thought this illiteracy thing had already been well established.

"Do you know letters or the sounds they make?" she persisted. Again I shrugged, hoping she would leave me to watch the match. Some words you just came to know naturally, like that word on the red hexagon sign. It was either 'stop' or 'halt', either way it didn't really matter. It wasn't long enough for 'If you speed thorough here you will probably crash into another car'.

Suddenly I had her book shoved in front of my face as she started reading aloud with her finger tracing over the black strings of letters.

"Once there was a king who lived outside the kingdoms in a tall castle by the sea." Blake recited.

Excuse you? Who do you think you are, thinking you can impose this master-student crap on me? If you were someone worth learning from I would have taken note of you earlier.

"And thats the match. Well done Ms Schnee. Ms Xiao Long, try to remain calm after you have taken your first hit. Anger may enhance your semblance but grimacing and sneering during a fight are easy tells to read." the instructor stated. "Now who would like to be next to spar?".

A plethora of hands shot up but I wasn't waiting my turn. I grabbed Blake's wrist and teleported us both into the ring.

"I don't believe I called on either of you but ... ahhh your new here so I will let it slide. That is, if Ms. Belladonna is willing to spar." the instructor scolded.

"Why not." Blake replied, obvious scorn in her voice from being forced into the ring.

"Very well then ... and for future attendance of my class, the proper procedure for entering a sparing match is to raise ones hand and wait to be called upon." the instructor stated in a scolding voice.

Sometimes being mute has it's advantages and this was one of those times. If I had been able I would have let loose a string of curses that would make some of these hardened warriors feint in horror. Instead, I had to settle for giving her the most unpleasant glare I could make without looking downright silly.

"Whenever your ready ladies." the instructor stated and I turned to face Blake. We stared each other down for several seconds before she made the first move. She charged at me and slid on her knees to cut low with her sword.

I jumped over her blade and placed one hand on her head to flip over her. Once the flip was complete I utilized the hand on her head to grab hold of some hair and pull her backwards.

She flailed back with her sword to hit nothing. I had teleported to the other side of the ring. She took out her gun and fired at me only to have me appear on her right and hook the gun with the curve of my parasol.

The gun flew out of her hands but she quickly brought it back towards her with a ribbon attached to the gun. Before she could rearm herself I unsheathed my blade and cut the ribbon, the blade thankfully still sharp enough to cut a ribbon. The gun flew up into the stands and far out of her reach.

I started mopping things up with a kick to the knee, a knee to the head, and a punch that, thanks to my Semblance, hit her in both the front then the back of the head. She was on all fours now, panting heavily, and unable to fight. I kicked her in the ribs to get her on her back. I made a quick teleport to retrieve the book and then I threw it in her face.

"That was quite the fight Ms ... um." the instructor stated looking up to the stands for anyone with my name.

Ruby answered "Neopolitan" and the instructor continued "Ms Neopolitan however ... if you have an advantage such as your semblance you should use it to hit first and hit hard. Waiting for an enemy to attack requires all of your focus and leaves you open to being blindsided by reinforcements or unwelcome changes in the scenario.".

Excuse you?

"Now who would like to take our final match for the day?" the instructor questioned. I remained in the ring while Blake left the class.

"Do you want to go again? Very well then, you may choose from any one of the willing participants." the instructor stated. Several hands now lowered, knowing I was to be their opponent. However, I kept my eyes locked on the instructor.

I raised my parasol to point at the instructor and all the hands fell back down to the students laps.

"It would not be appropriate for a professor to spar with a student." the instructor defended. Whatever, I never enrolled. I shrugged and lifted up my parasol to point at her again.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" the professor asked. I nodded and pointed at her again.

I paced around the edge of the ring, watching her carefully as she entered. Before I thought the match had even begun an invisible force flung my parasol out of my hand and pushed me up in the air.

I gave a small chuckle at the sensation of being suspended in air by this woman's telekinesis. Neat trick but I have a better one. I tried teleporting behind her but something was wrong.

I couldn't move, I couldn't teleport, and I was suspended in the air and rising higher. This ... was ... bad. For the first time in a long time I felt something I hadn't felt since before I discovered my semblance at the orphanage.

Helplessness.

After I had reached the ceiling I stopped rising and started accelerating downwards. It took less than a second for me to hit the floor and my vision to go black.

* * *

I awoke to the all to familiar sound of a heartbeat monitor and the stiff scratchy sheets of a hospital bed. When I opened my eyes I saw team RWBY next to my bed and Blake with a big smirk on her face. I bet she would have loved to watch that fight.

"I trust you girls can take care of her from here?" the instructor stated from behind the girls, making me jump a little.

"Yes. Thank you professor." Weiss stated and the professor left.

I managed to point in her direction and make a quizzical look.

"That was Prof. Goodwitch. Glynda Goodwitch." Ruby stated.

Dam. I guess that's why you hit first.


	12. Investigation

I had no luck with the content of the rest of the classes. It's just one persons opinion but pickpocketing and extortion classes would probably be more useful to these future hunters than history class.

I endured being dragged along to the rest of the classes, with the instructors all but ignoring me and the students whispering rumors about me. I hadn't been in a classroom since I was very young and I was surprised at how much writing was done. Students were taking notes and professors were writing lots of words on the chalkboard. This all made me feel really out of place.

Finally the classes were over and we headed back to the dorm room.

"All right! Who's ready to take down some baddies?" Ruby enthusiastically questioned. I gave a weak smile at her enthusiasm. A small pang of guilt hit me as I thought about what they would be walking into. Was it really worth risking four peoples lives at the chance of earning a little more freedom?

"Alright, lets go." Blake said, putting her hand out as they all looked like they were about to do a group cheer. They were waiting for me to put my hand in too and teleport them but I hesitated. They were huntresses right? They could handle a bit of incoming gunfire, right? I gulped as I walked forward, put my hand on their's, and teleported us.

I franticly searched for where the first shot would come from. Team RWBY also spread out and scanned for hostiles. However, all we were greeted with was silence.

"Uh ... you were supposed to take us to the White Fang's bace of operation, remember? This is a empty train yard." Yang questioned. I walked over to one of the train carriages and opened it up. There were supposed to be mechs in here but now it was empty.

"They were here at one time." Blake stated, kneeling down an observing the large puddles in the shape of a Mech's footprint.

I motioned for them all to get back together. We still had the dust warehouse to get through. They all piled their hands on and we teleported once again.

"What the ... Freeze!" I heard as we reappeared at the warehouse. I could feel weapons being pointed at us and I readied myself to 'rescue' these girls and be the hero.

"V.P.D Put your hands in the air." another voice sounded. What? What were the police doing here?

"Hey! Same team boys. We're from Beacon!" Yang exclaimed. One of the officers lowered his gun and walked up to a strangely familiar officer.

"The chief did say that Beacon had taken custody of her." he said to the officer with his gun trained on me.

"Even so, your all under arrest for trespassing in a police quarantined area." the officer shouted.

"Wait, we're huntresses! We are allowed to enter police areas." Weiss protested.

"Can you prove that you are in fact from Beacon?" the officer questioned.

"Um ... did anyone bring their student card?" Ruby tentatively asked.

"When we thought we were going to fight violent extremists, yeah I used a pocket to bring my wallet and not extra ammo." Blake said sarcastically.

"Somehow I always knew that if I was ever arrested it would be because of something Yang dragged me into." Weiss stated while sighing and putting her hands behind her head.

All of team RWBY had surrendered. I could escape very easily and I could even take them with me but I doubt it would be something Yang would approve of.

I put my hands behind my head and waited to be handcuffed.

The trip to the police station was long and filled with Yang trying to blame this on me. Thankfully the other members of team RWBY were not falling for it and the blame landed squarely on Yang's shoulders.

I was very surprised at how badly Cinder's operation had been hit since I had left. It looked like the police had seized most of the dust Roman had stolen and the train yard was abandoned as they were apparently expecting a police raid.

We were brought inside and sat down and chained to a seat.

I observed the police officers as they rushed around the station. I suddenly realized why that one officer looked familiar. He was the detective with the leg cast when I broke in here. His leg had now healed but it seemed he remembered me too as he was glaring at me non-stop.

"When do we get our phone call?" Yang tried to ask to the passing officers that clearly were too busy to take her to the phone. We waited half an hour and then I nudged Yang by leaning in my seat.

"What?" She asked, seemingly very agitated. I motioned towards a clock on the wall with my eyes.

"Please tell me you can tell time. Reading was one thing but time ..." Yang stated before I nudged her and motioned towards the clock again.

"It's 8:01! Wait ..." Yang stated. I smiled at her and then immediately teleported to freedom, leaving them behind.

Luckily Vale National Bank was open until 8:30. I strolled inside trying to discreetly get a look at the cameras and other security features. None of this should matter if I can teleport right inside the vault. Unfortunately for them, as with most large banks, they made a big deal about their vault door being in view and open during the day.

I then exited the bank as they were closing soon and I had seen all I needed to see.

It had been quite a while since I had been 'roughing it' on the streets but I had an advantage that others didn't. I teleported up to the roof of an apartment building and settled in next to the ventilation output. It was noisy but I was constantly being covered in a blanket of warm air.

I wonder if they have gotten their phone call yet?


	13. Detained

It was 7:45 when I teleported back to the dorm room. Everyone was sound asleep and it didn't look like they were about to wake up any time soon. I took the fifteen minutes to use their bathroom and shower. I got out at around 7:55 and it seemed no one had been disturbed by my use of the bathroom. I sat in a chair and patiently waited for them to wake up.

When the clock hit 8:01 I debated searching the room for todays pill or waking them up. They might not appreciate being woken up but if they caught me searching through their drawers, that would make things so much more complicated. I settled for lightly poking Yang with my parasol.

"Wha_. Ah! How long have you been sitting there?" Yang drowsily commented with a start. I held up all ten fingers on both hands and then placed my right hand horizontally and shook it left and right.

"Didn't anyone teach you it is creepy to watch someone else sleep?" Yang asked. I shrugged and shook my head.

"What do you want then?" She asked. I made a small gap between my index finger and my thumb and then brought both fingers up to my mouth.

"You think you deserve a pill after you abandoned us in jail? We didn't get back until four in the morning thanks to your little disappearing act." she scolded. I held up eight fingers and gestured towards the clock. She sighed and opened her bedside dresser to get my pill.

"That's changed now. It's 8 to midnight now and that is conditional if me and my team are in this dorm at midnight. If we are not then it is work 24/7 for you, Neo." Yang stated throwing a pill to me. That's not fair! The 12 hours of slavery was already unjust as it was but now I've only got 8 hours off!? Yang saw the look of protest on my face.

"I think it's better for your rehabilitation if I let you figure out what you did wrong on your own. Now, since you weren't there when Glynda came down and cleared things up with the police, you will have to go down there this morning and let them finish processing you. That should keep you busy while we catch up on sleep." Yang commanded. I was fuming mad but I had my pill and she had just given me an excuse to get some distance from her, which was probably best for both of our well beings.

"And don't forget. You still owe me five fifty." Yang taunted, almost instantly falling back asleep. I could do it without making a sound. Everyone else is out cold, no one could prove it was me. Oh who am I kidding, even if it wasn't me I would still get blamed.

* * *

Everyone in the police station froze at the sight of my appearance. What? You've never seen a teleporting mute with pink hair before?

"They weren't kidding when they said 8:00." one of the detectives said. I looked over at the clock and it was actually 8:03 but who cares.

"If you are turning yourself in you are going to have to wear these." a policeman said, holding up a pair of handcuffs. I rolled my eyes and offered my hands.

* * *

The rest of the time at the police station was a gruelingly long and boring experiment in seeing how long I could wait and be uselessly interrogated before I had to add another charge of resisting arrest to my criminal record. The answer is two hours. That is how long I waited before I teleported to the police's firing range and decided to shoot some targets to pass the time.

Needless to say they really didn't like that and so I was put in a holding cell this time, but at least it had TV. When no one was looking I teleported outside the bars to change the channel a few times.

"Time for your phone call." the previously crippled detective stated, opening my cell. Was this a joke? A phone call for a mute? I rolled my eyes and left the cell. Hopefully he didn't know I was mute and I could make this really embarrassing for him.

Surprisingly I was given a Scroll to make the call. Maybe I could send a picture or start a video call. I shook my head. I don't know any numbers. I pointed at myself, shook my head, pointed to my head, pointed in the general direction of Beacon, and then pointed at the Scroll.

"The number is already in there from last night. For legal reasons, you have to send the message." he stated. I pointed to my throat while giving him a look.

"It's already queued up to send a text message." the detective said, after sighing. Oh. I don't think they knew so I didn't think this was a joke anymore.

I powered on the scroll and it showed me an array of what might as well been hieroglyphics.

This can't be too hard. It's just a short message: "I'm in jail. Come bail me out.".

Uh. Okay lets shorten that down a bit.

What are you really trying to say?

In Jail? No.

Bail me out? To long.

Help! Yes that's it.

Now, where would I have seen the word 'help' before. Where do people need help? Who gives help? A lifeguard. I racked my brain for any of the symbols I might have seen on or around lifeguards. None were coming to mind. Wait, hospitals! It has that big symbol on the side of it.

I found and pressed the same symbol. Alright there has to be a few more.

"You know, you are only allowed a limited time with your phone call. Your times almost up." the detective stated.

I was panicking. It can't just be "H". I looked back down on the scroll in horror. Most of the symbols had changed. Why would they do that? That doesn't make any sense.

"Okay you are quite a bit over your allotted time. Give me the phone back." the detective requested, getting out of his chair to take it from me. I panicked and hit a few more buttons and then the send button. The symbols I had send were "**Hwbuk**". God I hope that's 'Help'.

**AN: So when the symbols changed, that was the letters changing from uppercase to lowercase after the first letter had been typed. I thought that might be a little confusing to readers but I couldn't explain it better in the story as it is first person and Neo has no idea that is what happened.**


	14. Claimed

The detective looked at the phone and then looked at me strangely. I avoided eye contact with him and pretended that was what I had intended to send. He looked at me for a few more seconds before I heard rapid clicking and the send sound I had heard moments earlier.

"Don't tell anyone I did that." the detective said. I gave him a comical look. How could I tell anyone that? I then switched my gaze to a more questioning one.

"As much as I would love to see you behind bars for days to come it really ruins the enjoyment when we see you on the cameras, teleporting out of the holding cell to change the channel." the detective stated. What he said was sort of confusing. Yeah, he could want me out of here because of annoyance but he didn't even mention how I couldn't send the text message myself. If he wanted to see me suffer you would think he would gloat or make fun of me for that. Why was he being nice to me?

I sat there trying to guess what he was planning that involved being nice to me. Thirty minutes passed and I still couldn't think of a logical reason.

"Can we hurry along this pointless ritual." a voice sounded from the front door. I looked up and cowered a little bit when I saw that Glynda Goodwitch had come for me.

"We already have the paperwork drawn up from last night. All you have to do is sign for her." the detective stated. Glynda stormed across the building and snatched up the clipboard offered by the detective.

A few pen strokes later Glynda turned to me and aggressively commanded "Come".

I followed her out of the police station and saw there was a taxi cab waiting and Glynda got in. I was done now, right? I was free? So I could just head back to Yang.

"Get in." Glynda demanded after rolling the window down. She kind of scared me so I didn't want to get in the same vehicle as her. I gave a 'no thanks' gesture and was about to teleport back to Beacon before my body was frozen by an invisible force.

"Do you think you are answerable to only Miss Xiao Long? Is that it?" she asked, giving control of my head back to me. I defiantly nodded my head, none too pleased about how this woman was able to completely overpower me.

"True she is the one who gives you your medication but where do you think she gets the pills? Get in!" Glynda demanded. Oh no. Yang was bad enough, now her. I was given control of my body again but that in no way made me free to do what I wanted. I sighed and reluctantly made my way to the far side of the car and got in. I sat, looking out the window, not really wanting to engage with Glynda in any way.

"I hope you realize that if you had stayed with team RWBY last night, that would have wasted much less of both of our time." Glynda chided. I ignored her and continued to look out the window. I didn't have any time to myself anyways.

"Neo! There is a difference between being rude and being silent. You could at least do me the courtesy of looking at me when I am speaking to you!" Glynda yelled. I promptly obeyed, remembering just how easily this woman could defeat me.

"Now. Your message was ... odd to say the least. If I may, where did you receive your primary education?" Glynda asked handing me her scroll as if she expected me to type it out. Instead, I grabbed her wrist and teleported us.

"An orphanage. For how many ..." Glynda asked, observing her surroundings and then turning to face me. I had already given the answer by holding up one finger.

"You had the opportunity to get an education so why didn't you stay?" Glynda queried. I rubbed my fingers together, raised an arm up high as if I was defining an imaginary level, pointed at the orphanage, and then lowered my arm to define a lower level.

"Money isn't everything." She stated. I gave her an incredulous look.

"Did you need to pay anyone to get cured? Have you needed any money over the last few days?" Glynda asked . This ... this is different than real life. I'm not free like team RWBY. Although, they did mention how they got to study for free. I wonder if they pay a dorm fee or something? It can't be completely free can it? Wait a second, I owe Yang five fifty. It wasn't much but I wasn't going to lose this argument without a fight. I nodded.

"For what?" Glynda asked. I teleported us into the grocery store, switched the color of my eyes to Yang's shade of lilac, and did my best Yang impression.

"How did you fall into a situation where you already owe Ms. Xiao Long money." Glynda asked. I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders, completely drawing a blank on how I was going to communicate that.

"How much do you owe her?" Glynda asked. I signaled the numbers 5,5,0 with my hands.

"Five hundred and fifty lien! How did you ..." Glynda assumed before she saw my pointing downwards. "Five fifty? You were allowed to keep much more than that amount of cash when you woke up. Why don't you just pay her back?" Glynda asked accusingly. I stubbornly shook my head. There was no way I was going to pay that bimbo for her own mistake.

Glynda sighed and stated "I knew that we should have found a different team to pair you with. Then again, you two have some things in common, mainly stubbornness. Well seeing as our car is nowhere in sight, I assume you will be offering me transport back to Beacon. To my office please.". I sighed and grabbed her wrist. I really hope that this trend of me being used as a method of transport would not catch on. I'm not a damned pony.

"Please wait outside while I attend to some business." I was commanded. I sat down in a waiting area and was disappointed to find that magazines were the only form of entertainment offered to those who wait. Not even the type of magazines with pictures, the boring kind with pages filled with blocks of text.

"Will Yang Xiao Long please come to my office. Yang Xiao Long to my office please." I heard over the intercom. Screw magazines, something tells me I am very much going to enjoy listening to what Glynda has to say to Yang.


End file.
